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Introduction

The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923 as an animation studio, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it later operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.

After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation sector, began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led a reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and the highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation from 1989 to 1999. In 2005, under the new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012, and 21st Century Fox in 2019. In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.

The company is known for its film studio division, the Walt Disney Studios, which includes Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Animation, and Searchlight Pictures. Disney's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, theme park resorts, consumer products, publishing, and international operations. Through these divisions, Disney owns and operates the ABC television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Hotstar; and Disney Experiences, which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world. (Full article...)

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Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears was an animated series set in medieval England relating the adventures of a community of humanoid bears who call themselves "the Gummies." (In their language, the word simply means "our people.") The bears live in the forest, where they have appointed themselves the secret defenders of the human kingdom of Dunwyn. The eccentric and intensely loyal Gummi Bears have a special power that helps them in dangerous situations. Many of their adventures involve two human friends, Calvin and Princess Calla, the only humans aware of the bears' existence. The show was created by The Walt Disney Company, and loosely inspired by the gummi bear candies; Disney CEO Michael Eisner was struck with inspiration for the show when his son requested the candies one day. The series premiered on NBC on September 14, 1985, and continued to air on ABC, running for 65 half-hour installments over six seasons, concluding on December 7, 1991, as part of the Disney Afternoon television syndication package.

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Credit: Coolcaesar

Pixar Animation Studios is an American CGI animation film studio based in Emeryville, California, United States. Pixar became a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company in 2006. The studio has earned twenty-four Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammys, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide.

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These are images of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, The Walt Disney Company, and Walt Disney in their respective articles.

Image 1View of Disney Springs (from Walt Disney World)
Image 2Grave of Walt Disney at Forest Lawn, Glendale (from Walt Disney)
Image 3Disney receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 from President Lyndon B. Johnson. (from Walt Disney)
Image 4The 2018 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 5Disney shows the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 6Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo (from Disneyland)
Image 7Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010 (from Disneyland)
Image 8Disney in 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 9Adventureland entrance
(2006) (from Disneyland)
Image 10Disney with film roll and Mickey Mouse on his right arm in 1935 (from Walt Disney)
Image 11Excerpt of Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 12Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida (from Walt Disney World)
Image 13A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6-cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968 (from Walt Disney)
Image 14Team Disney – The Michael D. Eisner Building, the main building at the Walt Disney Studios, which houses the offices of Disney's CEO and several other senior corporate officials. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 15The original logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s (from Walt Disney World)
Image 16Disneyland Railroad Engine 2 at the New Orleans Square station. (from Disneyland)
Image 17Disney next to a cat and a drawing of Mickey Mouse (by Harris & Ewing), 1931 (from Walt Disney)
Image 18Hollywood Studios' park icon, the Chinese Theatre (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 19Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight in the foreground and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background) (from Disneyland)
Image 20Main Street, USA
(2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 21Map of the resort as of May 2015 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 22Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland in 2008. (from Disneyland)
Image 23New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion) (from Disneyland)
Image 24Disney (left) with his brother Roy O. Disney (right) and then Governor of Florida W. Haydon Burns (center) on November 15, 1965, publicly announcing the creation of Disney World (from Walt Disney)
Image 25The original animation building at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which they fully moved into in 1940 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 26The 1996 version of The Walt Disney World logo (from Walt Disney World)
Image 27The Walt Disney World Monorail System provides free transport across the resort.
Image 28Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 2008) (from Disneyland)
Image 29Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle (from Disneyland)
Image 30Disney family at Schiphol Airport (1951) (from Walt Disney)
Image 31Walt, Florida Governor W. Haydon Burns, and Roy announcing the plans for Disney World in November 1965 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 32An aerial shot of Walt Disney World in 1982 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 33Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954 (from Disneyland)
Image 34Overlay of Walt Disney's original 1966 plans for Disney World and the proposed EPCOT city (orange) and contemporary situation (blue) (from Walt Disney World)
Image 35The Sherman Brothers in 2002. They composed many Disney songs in the 1960s. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 36Michael Eisner replaced Ron Miller as CEO. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 37Walt (center) showing the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 38Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, was head of the animation department until 2003. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 39Disney's childhood home (from Walt Disney)
Image 40Jeffrey Katzenberg was chairman of the Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1995. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 41A Disney Cruise Line bus which takes guests to and from Terminal 8 from Orlando International Airport; as well as around Walt Disney World. (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 42Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921 (from Walt Disney)
Image 43Walt (right) dressed as a gaucho next to Donald Duck in Argentina while on the company's South American goodwill trip in 1941. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 44Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941 (from Walt Disney)
Image 45Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer (from Walt Disney)
Image 46Disney Magic at Port of Venice (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 47Mickey's Toontown
(pictured in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 48The "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the theme park. Sleeping Beauty Castle was altered for the occasion. (from Disneyland)
Image 49Wedding Pavilion at the Seven Seas Lagoon (from Walt Disney World)
Image 50Disney security vehicle, picture taken July 2, 2009 in front of Epcot (from Walt Disney World)
Image 51Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 52Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company in 2004. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 53Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage (from Disneyland)
Image 54Characters from Alice in Wonderland host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist in 2005. (from Disneyland)
Image 55Disney in 1954 with Wernher von Braun (from Walt Disney)
Image 56One of four arches welcoming guests to the resort (from Walt Disney World)
Image 57Walt Disney (left) with his brother Roy O. Disney (right) and then Governor of Florida W. Haydon Burns (center) on November 15, 1965, publicly announcing the creation of Disney World (from Walt Disney World)
Image 58Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run in 2019) (from Disneyland)
Image 59Disney's video streaming subscription service Disney+ was launched in 2019, which has a total of over 135 million subscriptions as of June 2022. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 60An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004 (from Disneyland)
Image 61Disney's promotional logo for its centennial. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 62One of Disney's first animated characters Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which Disney regained the rights to in 2006. The initial run of Oswald shorts by Disney have all entered the public domain as of January 1, 2024. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 63Bayou Country
(Tiana's Bayou Adventure) (from Disneyland)
Image 64Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005, expanding the company's properties (from The Walt Disney Company)

Selected biography

Dan Povenmire (b. 1963) is an American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and actor associated with several animated television series, best known as the co-creator of the Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb in which he also voices the show's villain, Heinz Doofenshmirtz. Povenmire grew up in Mobile, Alabama, where he was a talented art student who spent summers outdoors and making movies. Povenmire attended the University of South Alabama before deciding to pursue a film career and transferring to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Povenmire has been a long-time contributor to the animation business, working on several different animated television series such as The Simpsons, Rocko's Modern Life and SpongeBob SquarePants. He was a longtime director on the prime time series Family Guy, where he was nominated for an Annie Award in 2005. He left the series to create Phineas and Ferb with Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. Povenmire has been nominated for several awards for his work on the show, including a BAFTA, an Annie, and three Emmy Awards.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Disney+ released a promotional poster for the Doctor Who Christmas special "Joy to the World" with the title spelled incorrectly?
... that the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
... that a revival of the comedy series Lizzie McGuire was ordered in 2019, but canceled mid-production after Disney deemed it not family-friendly enough?
... that John Oliver dared Disney to sue him over his version of Mickey Mouse?
... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?

Selected quote

Once upon a time, in a cabin in the snow, two cousins who didn't trust each other were trying to steal the bag of money sitting on the floor in front of me. So neither one of them went to sleep because neither one of them could be trusted. The end!

— Mickey Mouse

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More Did you know...

...that Le Journal de Mickey, a French comics magazine first published in 1934, is credited with "the birth of the modern bande dessinée"?

...that it took 16 years for the pilot episode of Phineas and Ferb to be picked up?

...that Newsies is based on the true story of the Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City.
... that Elsa the Snow Queen, a protagonist in Walt Disney's Frozen, was originally written as a villain?
...that Walt Disney was an ambulance driver during World War One?

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